Late-Game Rally Falls Short Against Rouge et Or

Concordia goes down to the wire, but couldn’t beat Laval on Thursday night. Photo Daren Zomerman

It hasn’t been easy for the Stingers lately. They dropped their fifth consecutive game on Thursday night to the second-place Université Laval Rouge et Or at the Concordia gym.

Stingers starters Jazlin Barker and Coralie Dumont led the way for the home team, combining to drop 34 points in the game. Unfortunately, their efforts were not enough. Laval collected 14 offensive rebounds throughout the game compared to Concordia’s seven.

Photo Daren Zomerman

Their inability to limit second-chance opportunities hampered their chances to close out a win against last year’s Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec regular season champions.

“We gave up way too many offensive rebounds,” said Concordia head coach Tenicha Gittens. “We forced them deep into the shot clock. But then we didn’t come up with the possession. You can’t give up second-chance opportunities like that. These were easy baskets for them.”

Despite holding leads at points during the game, Rouge et Or fought back in the third quarter. Led by guard Raphaelle Cote, who recorded a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double in the game, Laval overwhelmed the Stingers and forced them into sloppy play.

“We have to continue to move on defense,” said Gittens. “We had a couple possessions, we played against a good team, they want to win. Raphaelle Cote did a good job getting them extra possessions, we didn’t match that energy and intensity.”

Dumont agreed with her head coach, calling the team’s lack of energy a reason for their loss.

“We take some time to talk and get loose after each quarter and that puts us off the momentum,” she said. “Then it’s hard to come back and to put yourself back into the groove. Our energy wasn’t consistent and that’s what led to easy baskets for them.”

Barker was just two assists shy of a triple-double in the game. She scored a game-high of 19 points, collected a team-high of ten rebounds, and dished out eight assists. RSEQ leading scorer Caroline Task had a quiet game, scoring just six points.

The Stingers will be looking to get back into the win column on Thursday, Feb. 1 against the Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins at the Citadins gym. The Stingers’ last win was against the Citadins traces all the way back on Nov. 25.